Raphaël Bischoffsheim
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Raphaël-Louis Bischoffsheim (22 July 1823 – 20 May 1906) was a French banker and a member of the prominent Bischoffsheim family.


Family background

Raphaël-Louis’ father, Louis-Raphaël Bischoffsheim, was born in
Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
in 1800 and as an early orphan, he had to leave high school to work at the bank of Hayum Salomon Goldschmidt. In 1820, he left
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
to create his own bank in
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. In 1822, he married the sister of Benedict Hayum Goldschmidt, Amelia. In 1850, the family moved permanently to
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, where he opened one of the three branches of his bank.


Life and career

Raphaël-Louis had already been sent to Paris by his father in 1842 to study at the
École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * Éco ...
. After graduation, he was appointed as inspector of the railway line in northern Italy belonging to his father. He worked there until 1873, when he took over from his father the management of the family's banking group. On 24 April 1880, he obtained
French nationality French nationality law is historically based on the principles of ''jus soli'' (Latin for "right of soil") and ''jus sanguinis'', (Latin for "right of blood") according to Ernest Renan's definition, in opposition to the German definition of nat ...
. In 1873, Bischoffsheim commissioned architect Charles Garnier to build a villa in
Bordighera Bordighera (; , locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Imperia, Liguria (Italy). Geography Bordighera is located from the land border between Italy and France, the French coast is visible from the town. Having the Capo Sant'Ampel ...
, which was called Villa Bischoffsheim and finished in 1875. Bischoffsheim, who was a very generous person, had started investing and making plans to improve the city. What was closest to his heart was the construction of an observatory on the
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. Unfortunately, the municipalities proved unreceptive to the proposal of the banker, and Bischoffsheim, who had already had problems with money loaned to the city for improving the Via Romana, decided to move his center of interests back to
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. His passion for astronomy had already driven him to invest in the observatories of Paris, of Montsouris and of the Pic du Midi. When Bordighera did not accept his proposal for an observatory, Bischoffsheim built one in Nice on Mont-Gros, providing it with all the latest equipment and making it a center of excellence. The observatory was opened in October 1887. His contribution to science and society was such that Bischoffsheim received from the French Government the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...
and in 1889, at the Universal Exposition of Paris, two gold medals: one for the
Nice Observatory The Nice Observatory () is an astronomical observatory located in Nice, France on the summit of Mount Gros. The observatory was founded in 1879, by the banker Raphaël Bischoffsheim. The architect was Charles Garnier (architect), Charles Garnier, ...
and another for the professional school of the Boulevard Bourdon in Paris. In 1881, he was chosen to represent the district of Nice in the Chamber of Deputies, but not wanting to join any party, he was not re-elected in 1885. Instead, he was re-elected in 1889 for Nice and, in 1893, for
Puget-Théniers Puget-Théniers (; ; ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. Geography It is situated on in the valley of the Var. History It was part of the historic County of Nice until 1860 as ''Poggetto Tenieri''. Pe ...
''(see list of deputies on French wikipedia)''. In 1890, he was elected as a free member of the
French Academy of Sciences The French Academy of Sciences (, ) is a learned society, founded in 1666 by Louis XIV at the suggestion of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, to encourage and protect the spirit of French Scientific method, scientific research. It was at the forefron ...
.


Notes


External links

*
Nice Observatory
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bischoffsheim, Raphael 20th-century French philanthropists 19th-century French Jews French people of German-Jewish descent Members of the French Academy of Sciences 1823 births 1906 deaths 19th-century French philanthropists French people of Belgian descent Dutch people of German-Jewish descent Dutch emigrants to France Businesspeople from Amsterdam Dutch bankers French bankers Jewish bankers Dutch people of Belgian descent